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New PEC district office opens

Contributed/PEC
The new Pedernales Electric Cooperative Marble Falls district office officially opened for business June 7. A ribbon cutting will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 27.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

Burnet Bulletin

For two years, the Pedernales Electric Cooperative has worked to build a new Marble Falls district office just off US 281, north of town.

On June 7, the new facility — which includes a two-story, 27,000-square-foot office building as well as an 18,000-square-foot warehouse — opened to serve the cooperative membership.

PEC director of regional operations Nathan Burns said the building has a number of amenities that should make customers happy as it incorporates LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which is the most widely used green building rating system in the world.

Located at 4302 US 281, the facility includes three convenient drive-thru lanes, a 24/7 self-service payment kiosk and public electric vehicle charging stations. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“Because we are such a busy district office, we have additional drive through lanes for members, and we also have a 24-7 payment kiosk in one of those lanes,” Burns said. “The building has equipment for solar and rainwater collection and two spots available for electric vehicle easy-charging stations. This site also has an expanded warehouse for equipment and materials onsite.”

The new building also includes meeting space and equipment that will allow PEC to hold director meetings on-site or augment meetings livestreamed from the main Johnson City headquarters.

“We look forward to sharing this facility with our members,” said PEC Chief Executive Officer Julie Parsley. “The Marble Falls District Office is one of the most frequently visited PEC offices, and the new facility will allow us to more quickly and efficiently serve members.”

PEC broke ground on the facility in March 2016 after a third party completed a comprehensive facilities study to determine the health and functionality of PEC’s buildings.

“The former office was 27 years old, and, as with any older building, we faced several challenges,” Burns said. “The condition of the office had declined and there wasn’t any room for growth, which affected both our members and employees. It was time to make a change.”

Burns said the second floor of the new office building includes a training area and an in-house classroom for the cooperative's burgeoning apprentice program. Apprentice trainees can also perform daily tasks and work on specialty equipment in the yard when they are not in the classroom. There is also a maintenance facility to take care of the ever-growing fleet of PEC vehicles on the road.

“It is a one-stop shop for maintenance, training and our warehouse,” Burns said.

Burns added that with this facility, PEC is positioned to better serve members in the area.

“PEC is experiencing tremendous growth — adding on average 13,000 new meters a year — and the new Marble Falls District Office will help ensure we can continue to serve our members and exceed their expectations with safe, reliable electric service.”

PEC executive vice president of public affairs Mike Viesca said a ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. June 27 at the new facility.

“Now that we've seen the interest the community has in the new building, we want to invite everyone to come out and take part in the ribbon cutting, which is being headed up by the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce,” Viesca said. “We will have a reception in our auditorium afterwards and we invite the public to come and meet our employees.”